04 ecotec Malibu - Other Cars Forum

I picked up this 2004 Chevy Malibu with the 2.2 ecotec motor a few months ago and haven't really done much to it, My under standing is that the ecotec Is a tuner motor, i think it would be cool to build a "sleeper" so to speak, boost it and make ita lil more "fun"
Is the ecotec big enough to move that big old Malibu around with any quickness?
Will my stock auto trans hold up ?
Supercharged or turbo better ?
can this be tuned?

Looks wise i was thinking like stock but better, maybe cobalt interior?

I want my ducks in a row before i tare into this project, (know what i need and have everything)

Thank for reading, if this is a poor idea feel free to tell me before i get to far, thanks

I had a 04 malibu classic with the ecotec and the best advice I can give you is just drive it. If you want a cheap 4 door to mod get a 3800sc gtp, regal gs, olds, impala, etc. Nice ones can be had for 2-3k and their is actually an aftermarket unlike the malibu.

Make it a sleeper? Do a 5-speed swap and turbocharge it! Anything from a Grand Am, Alero is basically direct bolt-on, the 5-speed stuff from a Grand am will swap easily, the Ecotec of course has tons of aftermarket, and there are numerous swaps from the NWF swap to parts from a Grand Prix GTP rear suspension can be swapped with little to no fab work.

Make it a sleeper? Do a 5-speed swap and turbocharge it! Anything from a Grand Am, Alero is basically direct bolt-on, the 5-speed stuff from a Grand am will swap easily, the Ecotec of course has tons of aftermarket, and there are numerous swaps from the NWF swap to parts from a Grand Prix GTP rear suspension can be swapped with little to no fab work.

This.

Swap the 5 speed in, get the rear discs from a GA/Alero (same suspension--just need to change out the knuckles), Aluminum control arms from a 99 GA/Alero, the FE3 sway bars, F-body 12" front brakes, and turbo it.

You'd have quite a fun car with nothing but bolt-ons.

I'd also do drop springs and struts, but if you want a complete sleeper, you could skip it.

I'm guessing this car is a daily driver and it needs to be super reliable. For that fact my vote is for a supercharger. You already have the correct fuel rail to run cobalt injectors. It's literally a bolt on affair with the sc kit and they can be had/pieced together from cobaltss.net pretty cheap. You have to grind one TINY spot for the sc belt tensioner to fit but everything else just bolts right on. A decent header and a custom exhaust with a good resonator and muffler to keep the noise down would be perfect. Everything you need to know about it is here.

"In Oldskool we trust"

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